Some tips on moving

Moving is an interesting process. It can be real pleasant to someone but it can also be a real pain to others. For me, it has been both of them and I always have to try to find something in between.

First of I have to say, moving is not easy. It's actually a pretty hard thing to do especially if you have to move on your own. I don't want to classify that oh you're a girl you will have to care about this stuffs, oh you're a boy you will have to care about these stuffs. No, I believe as human beings, we mostly care about the same thing but we care about them at different level because we have different degree of tolerance. Who wouldn't care about safety? Even a drug dealer cares about his/her own well-being. This is just an example.

Anyway, so here are a few things I think you should ask yourself when you decide to move. (Different people have different priorities, so these are not ranked according to priority. You should know what is the most important thing to you.

1st: Where do I move to?
2nd: What is my budget? (How much can I afford?)
3rd: When will I move?
4th: Another thing could also be, why do you want to move or why do you move to the place you want to move to?

Once you have asked these questions, you will be able to eliminate a lot of options. Then you can ask another few options.
1st: Do I want a place of my own or do I want to share it with other people?

2nd: Do I want to rent it directly from the landlord or do I want to sublease it from somebody else?

3rd: How long (estimate) will I be there?

4th: If you have a good budget, you can even ask this question, should I buy or should I rent? (depend on your situation, you can either rent or buy. If you're going to be there for a very long time, buying might be an option. If you're just trying out the water, it might not be a good idea)

5th: Can I commit to things? (So that you won't break your lease and decide to move to something else, breaking a lease might be pretty damaging).

Once you have asked these questions, you will be able to eliminate a lot of other stuffs as well. Now, you can start listing different criteria that you want to have in your new place. Seriously, I can't stress how important this is. You should always know what you're looking for so that you can look for those things when you come and see the place. Here are a few things to make you think:

1st : is there good transportation nearby? can I do it without a car (in case I don't have a car)? Or if you have a car, will there be a place to park?
2nd: bathroom? can I share bathroom with others without having any problems? or do I prefer to have my own bath?
3rd: laundry. should I have my own washer/dryer or should I go to the coin operating machine?
4th: kitchen. am I a cook or am I not a cook? do i want a big kitchen or a small one?
5th: do I want the place to be new? or it doesn't matter?
6th: if i am to have roommate, what am i looking for in the roommate? same qualities as I am? (so you should also know what you're looking for if you're particular or sensitive to certain kind of pets)
7th: do I want the place to have natural light or it doesn't matter?

So each individual has different things that they're looking for. You should list things that are important for you to help reducing your time and money.

Then, once you start narrowing down your search, you can look into the posting and start looking for places. Once you find a few potential places, here are the few questions that you can ask. (I mean a few, because you can't just find one place and think that you're going to get that place and nowhere else. It's great to look at different one to compare and contrast because then you will learn more about the area). I suggest you look at them online (craigslist is great) or on the newspaper or just walk around the neighborhood if you are local.

1st: If you can, come and see the place to see if this is what you want. If you are not local to the place that you'll be moving to and you're particular, ask the landlord to have some pictures taken so that you have a sense of how the place looks like. If the landlord really cares about the tenant and wants good tenant, they really should take time to do this and understand that the tenant can't see the place physically. I can't stress how important this is. Well, at least to me, it's very important. Have you ever bought a car without even seeing it? It's kind of show how nice and how flexible the landlord is as well. So if the landlord is firm that he/she can't give you the pictures, at least be aware and ask why. If he/she gives reasonable reasons, and you're okie with it, it is in your decision to make.

2nd: watch around the neighborhood to see that you can fit it

3rd: check the crime rates. read the review about the place (if it's an apartment complex, you can find those ratings online like www.apartmentratings.com, or if you're lazy like me, you can also go to google maps (maps.google.com) and search for apartment (provided the city and state), they will usually give you location of the apartment that you're looking for. They also pull information from other websites if there are reviews or any info about that apartment. It won't be completely comprehensive, but it's a pretty good service.)

4th: Distance. Does it matter to live far or close to where you will usually go to (work, place, school, etc). That can help the determine where you will end up.

5th: landlord. If you see the landlord, see if he/she is nice and thorough. If you can't, at least try to talk to the landlord on the phone or know and try to know as much info about the landlord as possible. If you will be sharing with another tenant or landlord, try to find information about him/her as well. Try to make sure everything is clear and if anything breaks, they will be fixed in a timely manner.



After all these are done, you can take notes and see which places will you like best and then decide from there.

One thing to remember is, if you're going to share, have someone who is reliable to share with you because the last thing you want to do is having to pay the place by yourself when your roommate leaves you in the middle of the terms. Have it clarified clearly in the beginning will help a bunch.

If I find anything else, I sure will keep you posted. And if you have any tips, please do so as well.

for now, bb :)